Dr. Matthew Johnson

Matt is Associate Director at the Center for Science and the Schools, and there he works closely with science and engineering faculty and K-12 teachers to develop, propose, implement and evaluate teacher professional development programs as part of funded research grants. These workshops use researchers’ projects to support K-12 educators in teaching science content using the practices of scientists and engineers.

His research agenda focuses on improving engineering teaching and learning in science and technology classrooms, specializing in rural, underserved districts. He uses an ethnographic perspective and discourse analysis of classroom activity to investigate student and teacher interactions and a design-based approach to investigate teachers learning about the epistemic practices of researchers and how they apply them to their classroom teaching.